No. 04 — Legality
The rule is a line
40mm off the ground.
Shoes get called “banned” far more often than they are. The regulation that actually matters is a sole-thickness limit measured in millimetres — so here is the entire field, drawn to scale, standing against it.
5K to marathon on the road, including all World Marathon Majors
40mm
Every shoe v. road racing
| Shoe | Stack | Verdict | |
|---|---|---|---|
| adidas Prime X 3 Strung | 50 | ■ over limit | 50mm is 10.0mm over the 40mm limit for road racing. |
| HOKA Skyward X | 48 | ■ over limit | 48mm is 8.0mm over the 40mm limit for road racing. |
| New Balance FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4 | 47 | ■ over limit | 47mm is 7.0mm over the 40mm limit for road racing. |
| HOKA Cielo X1 2.0 | 46 | ■ over limit | 46mm is 6.0mm over the 40mm limit for road racing. |
| ASICS Superblast 3 | 45.5 | ■ over limit | 45.5mm is 5.5mm over the 40mm limit for road racing. |
| Saucony Kinvara Pro | 42 | ■ over limit | 42mm is 2.0mm over the 40mm limit for road racing. |
| Nike Alphafly 3 | 40 | legal | 40mm is exactly on the 40mm limit — legal, with no margin. |
| Nike Zoom Fly 6 | 40 | legal | 40mm is exactly on the 40mm limit — legal, with no margin. |
| New Balance FuelCell SC Elite v5 | 40 | legal | 40mm is exactly on the 40mm limit — legal, with no margin. |
| ASICS Metaspeed Sky Tokyo | 39.5 | legal | 39.5mm is 0.5mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| ASICS Metaspeed Edge Tokyo | 39.5 | legal | 39.5mm is 0.5mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| ASICS Metaspeed Ray | 39.5 | legal | 39.5mm is 0.5mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| Saucony Endorphin Elite 3 | 39.5 | legal | 39.5mm is 0.5mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| Saucony Endorphin Elite 2 | 39.5 | legal | 39.5mm is 0.5mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2 | 39 | legal | 39mm is 1.0mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| adidas Adizero Adios Pro 4 | 39 | legal | 39mm is 1.0mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| PUMA Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 | 39 | legal | 39mm is 1.0mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| HOKA Rocket X 3 | 39 | legal | 39mm is 1.0mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| On Cloudboom Strike | 39 | legal | 39mm is 1.0mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| Brooks Hyperion Elite 5 | 39 | legal | 39mm is 1.0mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| Mizuno Wave Rebellion Pro 4 | 39 | legal | 39mm is 1.0mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| ASICS Magic Speed 5 | 38 | legal | 38mm is 2.0mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| PUMA Deviate Nitro Elite 3 | 38 | legal | 38mm is 2.0mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| Saucony Endorphin Pro 4 | 36 | legal | 36mm is 4.0mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| Nike Vaporfly 4 | 35 | legal | 35mm is 5.0mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| adidas Adizero Takumi Sen 11 | 33 | legal | 33mm is 7.0mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| New Balance FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3 | 33 | legal | 33mm is 7.0mm inside the 40mm limit. |
| Nike Streakfly 2 | 32 | legal | 32mm is 8.0mm inside the 40mm limit. |
Does the rule even apply to you?
These regulations govern "Applicable Competitions" — World Athletics series events, Olympic and World Championship competition, World Athletics Label road races, and any event where a record or ranking score may be set. Elite fields at the big city marathons are checked. Mass-participation entrants almost never are, and parkrun, club races and most local events apply no shoe rule at all. If you are chasing a Championship-qualifying time, an age-group record or a place in an elite/championship field, the limit binds you. If you are running for a personal best, it does not.
The single-plate rule
A competition shoe may contain no more than one rigid embedded plate or blade. It may be split into parts, but those parts must sit sequentially in a single plane and must not overlap or stack.
In practice no shoe sold by a major brand breaks it — brands design to the rule. Stack height is the constraint that actually catches shoes out, which is why it is the one this page measures.
All limits, by event
| Event | Max sole | |
|---|---|---|
| Road racing | 40mm | 5K to marathon on the road, including all World Marathon Majors |
| Track events | 20mm | All track distances including hurdles and steeplechase |
| Field events | 20mm | Jumps and throws |
| Cross country (spiked shoes) | 20mm | Spiked cross country shoes |
| Cross country (non-spiked) | 40mm | Road-style shoes worn on a cross country course |
| Race walking | 40mm | Treated the same as road events |
| Mountain and trail | no limit | No stack height restriction |
Summarised from World Athletics Book C, C2.1A Athletic Shoe Regulations; unified limits effective 1 Nov 2024, continuing under the 1 Jan 2026 regulations. Last reviewed 2026-08-13. Always check your own event's rules — and the official WA approved-shoe list if you compete where it is enforced.